Aperture iOS app hinted at in Apple job postings

Apple's Aperture team is looking for managers, user interface engineers and software coders who have experience operating in the iOS environment, possibly signaling that the company is developing an iDevice-centric version of the high performance photo editing program.

An AppleInsider reader who wishes to remain anonymous was sent an email on Friday from an Apple corporate recruiter asking if they were interested in taking on a Cocoa coding position with the Aperture team. The reader points out that one of the job's key requirements is "experience in programming for iOS."

The email is consistent with a series of postings that popped up on the "Jobs at Apple" website over the past week that show possible interest in creating a companion iOS app or a mobile version of the Mac maker's photo editing and management software. If a dedicated app was indeed launched it would be the first of Apple's professional-level programs to have a presence on iOS.

One advertised listing titled "Aperture- Software Engineering Manager" was posted on Thursday and calls for an experienced individual with leadership skills who can "help shape a new generation of tools for advanced photo management and manipulation." What is interesting about the position is that it requires "recent hands-on development experience with MacOS or iOS" and experience with various coding languages used in Apple's mobile platform.

Apple has released a variety of in-house iOS apps though most have been stripped-down or reworked ports from the iLife and iWork software suites. Most recently the iPhone maker launched an iOS version of iPhoto alongside the third-generation iPad in March, complete with multi-touch capabilities and Retina Display support. The app sold one million copies in less than ten days and continues to be one of the App Store's best-selling products.

Other Apple programs taken to iOS include iMove and Garage Band while iWorks' Keynote, Pages and Numbers have been on iDevices since 2011.

While the iPad is not seen as a professional-level computer, companies like Adobe have dabbled with releasing advanced products that interface with processor-intensive desktop counterparts. The company recently released launched two new iOS apps when it introduced Creative Cloud in May, further integrating mobile devices into its professional design workflow.

Not overkill at all; it would be welcomed by a great many pro-/hobbyist photographers who would like to incorporate an iPad into the process. The iOS iPhoto app is great but, as an Aperture user, my photo libraries (versions and albums) are in Aperture (not iPhoto) format and I for one would like to be able to use a complementary program on the iPad.

Uh huh. Let's make an iOS Aperture when OS X Aperture is getting quite long in the tooth compared to Lightroom 4. About the only feature that is still superior in Aperture is the cataloging. I'm beginning to question Apple's commitment to the professionals who kept it afloat in the 90's.

So, just to confirm... Photos, iPhoto, AND Aperature all on iOS? Three photography apps? Doesn't that seem like overkill. I would imagine Apple just plans to beef up iPhoto....

Not at all. Good, Better, and Best is how they do their HW so having 3 apps that add more advanced features at a higher cost might be suitable. I assume the cost is fairly low and it won't be too confusing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

I wish they'd replace Photos with iPhoto.

I don't see it replacing Photos on iOS but I would like there to be an default app settings in Settings that could allow users to replace their Photos app with iPhoto, Mail with some 3rd party mail app, Safari with a 3rd party browser app, etc.

The latter allows Apple to grow developer and user interest by giving a nugget of freedom by simply adding a UI for a new API that would allow these tie ins. They already do many of these things with the Twitter API.

The former would keep the non-technical users from being confused as easily about which app they need for a service (which is something I've experienced with everyone I bought the iPhoto app for) and would allow their Home Screens to be cleaned up by hiding these subsidiary apps, if they choose to, like how the Nike+ app.

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalclips

IMHO This is all pointing to a much larger iPad one day!

That's an interesting thought and I think it will eventually happen as the iPad becomes a more common primary computing device for many users, but I think it's at least a couple years off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlandd

Just sent my second crash log of the night with 3.2.4 : (

FYI: If you want to use a text emoticon without using that space and without it showing up as a image placeholder you can wrap one of the characters in the "normal" size mark-up. I use TextExpander to quickly input a great deal of complex formatting without spending any time doing it.